An Ottawa court has awarded more than $330,000 to an aspiring lawyer who tripped on a curb and injured her shoulder.

Michelle Botosh caught her left foot on the inch-and-a-half high curb slope and tripped, throwing her right arm forward to break her fall on Nov. 8, 2003. The Byward Market sidewalk had been under construction, but there were no signs warning pedestrians of the changes to the curb.

She successfully sued two construction companies and the City of Ottawa by convincing the judge she did not know construction was still ongoing. Ms. Botosh has a mild form of cerebral palsy, which limits movement on the left side of her body. With her right shoulder now experiencing chronic pain, those limitations are greater and have squandered her dreams of attending law school and being eventually called to the bar, she told court.

Ontario Superior Court judge Barbara Warkentin, who split liability between two construction companies and the City of Ottawa, was not convinced the shoulder injury has kept Ms. Botosh from a career as a lawyer. The judge said her pre-existing limitations due to cerebral palsy and her grades have played a larger role in keeping her dream career out of reach.

She only awarded Ms. Botosh — 26-years-old at the time of her fall — $65,000 in general pain and suffering damages. She was also given $151,239.25 in future loss income damages and $75,375.25 for future care, making up the lion’s share of her payout along with $19,373.99 for out-of-pocket expenses and $23,195.75 for past loss income. Total payout: $334,184.

It’s significantly less than the $3-million Ms. Botosh initially sought, but from his reading of the decision, personal injury lawyer Jim Vigmond of Barrie, Ont., views the award as somewhat generous.

“The most important witness in any case before judge … is that of the plaintiff and I don’t think the plaintiff made a good witness or a good impression,” he said, after reviewing the decision. “All due respect to this judge, [but] some judges and some jurors would have said ‘I’m not satisfied there’s enough evidence she’s suffered any income loss.'”

In most municipalities across Canada, a resident must prove city-owned property was in a state of disrepair before they are eligible for compensation, said Burlington, Ont., personal injury lawyer Matt Lalande. Most cities prepare for these types of claims in their annual budgets: The City of Toronto’s 2013 budget has set aside $51.6-million for liability claim investigation, defence and payments — 0.5% of the city’s annual operating budget, according to Toronto’s director of corporate finance, Joe Farag.

This burden of proof can make these cases difficult to win, said Maureen McCartney-Cameron, a personal injury lawyer in Calgary. “The chances of succeeding can be low,” she said. “They’re hard cases to be 100% successful in.”

If Canada’s cities spent a bit more money on infrastructure upkeep it will save in the future when many residents will be senior citizens more likely to hurt themselves and seek compensation as the age of retirement keeps rising, said Laura Tamblyn Watts, a senior fellow at the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, a section of the B.C. Law Institute.

“That costs much less money and helps everybody versus not living up to your obligations and having to pay one person a lot of money to pay negligence and help them put their life back together,” she said. “That’s not the purpose of taxpayer dollars in terms of good budget planning.”

Ms. Botosh and a lawyer for Dibblee Construction declined comment, citing ongoing issues with the case. The lawyer representing the City of Ottawa and Greenbelt Construction did not respond to a request for comment.